The Most Wonderful Time
by haleyb333
Summary: It's Christmas, and Magnus has the gift of a lifetime to give to Alec. But he's so nervous can he actually give it without messing things up?


_Hi loves! This is my Christmas gift to you all! I hope you enjoy it, it's about twice as long as a chapter usually is because I got bored and also because I love you all! Let me know what you think of it!_

* * *

Magnus knew there was no reason he should be freaking out. But one rarely found logic in the midst of love, so he found his heart absolutely racing as he entered the Institute. If everything went as planned for the next two days, Magnus knew he would soon find himself with a ring on his finger, and that was just the slightly terrifying part.

It had been four years since he and Alec had decided to keep Max after he was abandoned at the Academy. It had just been a couple of months, however, since the Clave had granted Downworlders and Shadowhunters the right to be married in a Shadowhunter ceremony. Magnus knew that that particular occurrence was all due to Alec and Alec alone. Practically since the very day they had gotten Max and Alec had admitted his wish to marry Magnus, and Magnus his wish to be married in gold, Alec had relentlessly fought for Downworlders' rights in every way imaginable.

The day the Clave had made the announcement, Magnus had been sure that Alec would explode from excitement. Sure, he had achieved a great deal of other things in the way of Downworlders' rights, but this was the one thing he had been working toward from the start, and Magnus was unsure that he had ever seen Alec so happy.

But as soon as the announcement had been made, things became slightly uncomfortable, and Magnus could tell that everyone was waiting for him to make the next move. That was the thought that had immediately made him nervous. It hadn't been because he didn't want to marry Alec, but rather quite the opposite. He had wanted to marry Alec for so long that it had become a sort of fantasy, an idea that they all seemed to understand had a terrible chance of ever becoming reality. And then suddenly, it wasn't a fantasy anymore.

Magnus knew that it would be entirely unfair to make Alec be the one to propose. After all, he had done all the work to get them to this point. But the more Magnus thought about proposing, the more nervous about everything he became. He knew it had become truly terrible when Max had come to ask him why he hadn't proposed yet.

So now he found himself two days away from Christmas, entering the Institute as slowly as possible, knowing he was stalling but unable to allow himself to do anything else. He had told Alec that he needed to do some last-minute Christmas shopping as a way to get him to stay home alone with Max. Calling Robert and Maryse had been the next step, a step that had almost given him a heart attack.

He still wasn't terribly comfortable around Robert and Maryse, but Magnus had to admit that over the past four years, they had certainly both made every effort to mend their relationship with Alec, with all of their children. And no matter how much he disliked how they had been in the past, Magnus also had to admit that Max absolutely adored them and they absolutely adored Max.

Walking into Robert's office was essentially the worst thing Magnus had done in years. He wanted to stop, to turn around and run back to Alec, but he had to remind himself that if Alec could present himself before the Clave almost nonstop for four years that the least he could do was talk to the Lightwoods.

As he entered, Robert and Maryse looked up from the book they had been leafing through, most likely trying to find information on a demon they rarely encountered. Magnus still found himself slightly surprised when they smiled at him, but he knew that was just a reflex from far too long ago.

"Magnus, come in," Robert's voice was light, as if he knew something Magnus didn't, and that made Magnus want to scream. "You said you wanted to talk to us? There's nothing wrong, I hope."

Magnus quickly held up a hand, realizing that these days their first thoughts went to Max, as did his and Alec's. "No, nothing of the sort. I just had a question to ask the two of you, that's all." Maryse motioned for Magnus to sit down, and he did so, knowing he would fidget the entire time.

For a moment, an awkward silence stretched out before them, Magnus's heart racing even more than it had been before. He decided to just start talking and figure out where that was going to take him, even though he knew that was an awful idea. "I'm sorry," he began, acknowledging that he hadn't spoken yet. "It's just that I'm inexplicably nervous right now, and I cannot begin to fathom why that is. But that's what Alexander's always done to me. Made me feel like a teenager, that is."

It was then that Magnus looked up from his hands to see Robert and Maryse staring at him with grins on their faces. It was then he understood that they knew exactly what he was doing there, and they were simply watching him try to spit it out because he was amusing. He paused for a moment, idly wondering just how stupid he looked, then deciding that it in the end, it didn't matter.

"Alright," he began again, a smile of his own spreading across his face. "From the looks I'm getting from the two of you, you know exactly why I'm here, don't you?" The only response he was given was the slow inclination of Robert's head, both of their smiles not diminishing in any way. "And let me guess," with a sigh, Magnus continued. "You're still going to make me ask you anyway."

It had not been a question, Magnus already knew the answer, but Robert still inclined his head once more. "Fine," Magnus's voice was not unkind as he took a deep breath and plunged in. "I've come to ask you for Alec's hand in marriage. Alec has waited far too long for this, and I do not wish to waste another second." When they didn't answer for a moment, Magnus continued speaking, suddenly nervous again. "I would preferably like to propose on Christmas. Provided you say yes, I have rings picked out that I will take Isabelle with me to pick up tomorrow, mostly because I know she'll want to be part of this in some way."

Waiting for one of them to speak was like waiting for his life to begin, and Magnus could hardly bear it. "Magnus," Robert's voice wasn't cold, but that didn't stop Magnus from having to swallow the lump that quickly formed in his throat. "Why on earth would we ever tell you no?" At that, Magnus felt himself release breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

Maryse spoke up next before Magnus could find any more words. "We'd be absolutely insane to say no, Magnus. And if we ever were so insane as that, Alec would never forgive us. Now go get Isabelle and plan things out with her and Clary. Don't tell Jace, Alec knows him too well; he'd never be able to hide anything from Alec to save his life." When Magnus simply stared at her, she got up and took him by the hand, leading him toward the door. "Hurry up now, Magnus. I'm ready to have another son in this family."

* * *

Alec was slightly suspicious of what was going on, but he dismissed it as a sort of holiday jitters. Magnus, Isabelle, and Clary had spent nearly all of Christmas Eve doing some "Christmas shopping." And when Alec had talked to Jace and Simon about it, they were as equally as clueless as he was. He shrugged it off, deciding that if something was going on, Magnus would come to him about it sooner or later. After all they had been through, Alec knew that both he and Magnus had learned to take their problems to the other sooner rather than later, so he pushed the thought to the back of his mind.

Or rather, he did so until he, Magnus, and Max got to the Institute for Christmas dinner. Everyone seemed to be all smiles, something that wasn't exactly normal for them. Everyone, except for Jace and Simon, who also seemed to be confused about whatever was going on.

"Jace," Alec lowered his voice as he pulled Jace to the side for a moment. "Is it just me or do they seem extra happy today? What on earth is up with them?" Jace shrugged, mostly because his mouth was full of food he had most definitely stolen from the table, and Alec rolled his eyes, knowing that whatever was going on was a mystery to Jace as well. Glancing at Simon, Alec could tell that he was equally as puzzled as he and Jace were, so he let it go for the moment.

Everything from there went perfectly, almost too perfectly, but Alec quickly found himself relaxing despite the unexplainable tension he could feel in the room. They had begun having Christmas dinner every year when they had adopted Max, and with each year Alec found himself loving the holidays more and more.

Once Luke and Jocelyn, Maia and Bat, and Catarina had arrived, they had sat down for a surprisingly peaceful meal. Max, however, had been squirming the entire time. This had been the fault of Luke, who had mentioned presents before they sat down to eat. Toward the end of the meal, Alec realized that Max hadn't been the only one who had been squirming the entire time. As Magnus got up and quieted the table, Alec realized that Max had simply been the only one who had been unable to hide his squirming.

"Magnus?" Alec had trouble keeping his voice quiet. "What, exactly, are you doing?" Magnus looked back at him with an all too charming smile on his face and simply dropped a glittering wink before moving to the end of the table where Robert and Maryse were sitting.

"I know that for a few of you, this is something considerably unexpected, but if you'll all be so kind as to give me a few minutes of your time, I hope to clear the confusion shortly." Magnus's voice was crystal clear, and Alec could hear a hint of excitement in it. When Magnus's eyes turned to him, however, he was totally unprepared. "Alexander, if you could join me please." Magnus held out a hand, and Alec had to force himself to stand and move to Magnus's side, still completely confused as to what was going on.

Looking back on it, Alec would later laugh at the fact that he was confused essentially until the moment Magnus popped the question. He would look back and wonder why it had taken him so long to catch on, knowing that he should have seen it coming, but in the moment, he looked up at Magnus with a lingering question in his eyes.

"I want to do this right now, in front of everyone because I understand that everyone you love is sitting in this room right now." For a moment, a heavy silence fell over the room, and Magnus quickly cleared his throat, making the necessary amends. "Excuse me, everyone you love who is still with us is in this room right now."

Alec couldn't help but glance at Max in that moment, suddenly aware of the whole in his heart that he knew would never be filled again. As Magnus started speaking again, Alec forced himself to shove that thought aside, knowing from painful experience that it was a useless path to wander down. Looking around the room, he could tell that the others were thinking of Max as well, and not just Max, but Ragnor, Raphael, Jordan, Amatis, and the countless others they had lost along the way. "I have a few things I want to say, and please don't say anything until I'm finished." Magnus reached up to move Alec's hair away from his eyes, a simple gesture that was full of so much love that Alec was taken aback by it.

"Alexander, I'm honestly not even entirely sure where to begin here." A smile played across Magnus's lips as he reached over to take hold of Alec's hands. "I had this entire speech planed out, but in the end, it boils down to three simple words: 'I love you.' And I am unsure that even the most eloquent of writers will ever be able to string together a sequence of words that will ever suffice to properly express just how deeply in love I am with you. For hundreds of years I have dreamt of someone who would fit with me seamlessly, absolutely perfectly, just the way that you do."

As Magnus continued talking, Alec found himself unaware of anyone else around them. As it often did, the world melted away into just the two of them. "For almost the same amount of time, I've dreamt of what it would mean to me to marry someone. I stumbled and searched for someone, anyone, who would fit with me just enough, who would care about me just enough to have the same dream of marriage that I did. Someone who would put their every effort into a marriage if that's what it took, someone who would make me feel as though marriage, whether mortal or immortal, was finally worth it, that's what I've been searching for."

At first, Alec thought that Magnus was going to tear up, but he seemed to move past that and continued on. "And then I met you. For the past four years, you've put everything you had into more than just marrying me. We could have been married long ago, but you never settled. You've pushed and pushed to give me the marriage that I dreamt of with you: a marriage in gold. Your love for me has astounded me every day. I begin practically each day with the thought that there is no way I could ever be more in love with you than I am in that moment. I end practically each day with the thought that you have surprised me yet again, that I love you more than I did just that morning. You've made me feel as though, no matter how much shorter your life may be than mine, that marriage is worth every single second. You've helped me come to understand that the pain of loving you is far out shadowed by the joy of having been able to call you mine for all these years."

For some inexplicable reason, Alec was momentarily stunned as Magnus began to kneel on one knee. He knew his surprise was utterly ridiculous, that this entire speech Magnus had just given had led up to that exact point, but as he looked down at Magnus, he felt a smile of surprise spring across his face. Magnus had pulled out a ring, but Alec had no idea what it looked like, all he could focus on were Magnus's words and Magnus's face, a face that was so cloaked in happiness that it was stunning to Alec. "Well, I think I've made enough fuss over this for one day. So, Alexander Gideon Lightwood, will you marry me?"

Before Alec knew what was happening, he found himself on his knees as well, he found his lips on Magnus's, and he found himself muttering "yes" and "of course" over and over again with tears in his eyes. Before long, Max was by their sides then suddenly in their arms as well. Finally, Alec looked down at the ring on his finger to see a simple gold band with one bright green stone in the center. Magnus flashed a quick smile as he raised his left hand as well. "Mine's blue," was all that he said, but it hit Alec as hard as if he'd hit a brick wall. He found tears in his eyes once more, but Magnus quickly reached up to wipe them away before they could go anywhere.

"I was also hoping," Magnus began, a slight hitch in his voice this time. "That Clary could make us wedding runes, like the binding runes she used for the war. If not, at the very least, and this is a phrase I never thought I would say, I would like, perhaps, to get a simple tattoo of the same sort. Nothing too complicated, just something I could have-" it was then that Magnus did choke on his words, and Alec could tell that he was feeling conflicted. "Something I could have forever," he finished, his tone heavy.

Before responding, Alec looked toward Clary who was already nodding enthusiastically. "I'm fairly certain that's something I could do pretty easily." When Alec looked back at Magnus, he was slightly startled to see that tears were steadily streaming down his face at that point. He reached up with both hands to wipe them away, leaning in to give Magnus a gentle kiss as he did so.

"I'm sorry, Alexander." Magnus's voice was terribly light, but Alec was surprised to hear no hint of sorrow in it at all. "It's just that in all my dreaming, in all my stumbling, I never once imagined that I would ever be as happy as I am right this moment."

Alec couldn't help but chuckle, knowing wholeheartedly that he was feeling the same way. With an almost sly tone to his own voice, he responded back through his own smile. "How, exactly, am I supposed to compete with this Christmas present, Magnus?"

That seemed to clear Magnus's tears for a moment as he laughed himself. "Don't worry, Alexander. You may not know it, but you already have." When Alec's brows furrowed, Magnus kissed his forehead before wrapping his arms around Max who squirmed and giggled. "You've given me a family. That's the biggest dream I've ever had."

Instead of leaning over to kiss Magnus, Alec leaned down to kiss Max on the cheek, the endearing blue smile that Alec had loved since the first time he saw it spreading even further across Max's face. Looking up at Magnus, Alec spoke slowly, determined to not mess up what he was about to say, as he had done so many times before. "Aku cinta kamu, Magnus."


End file.
